Posted on 08/23/2003 4:12:43 PM PDT by saquin
By Sofia Sanchez, Operational Text Command PAO
An angel in disguise descended upon Baghdad in the form of a guitar-playing soldier last November. Two years ago he was just your typical soldier, anonymous to the world. Since last November, however, Sgt. Christopher Hamre, 30, from Killeen, has been featured in television stations such as BBC and TV Italia and in major newspapers such as The Washington Post, The Dallas Morning News and The L.A. Times.
What had made Hamre instantly popular? His heart and his guitar.
Hamre recently returned from Iraq to visit his mother, Lacynda Kelley, who works at the U.S. Army Operational Test Command in West Fort Hood.
A month prior to deployment, the soldiers of 3rd Infantry Division from Fort Stewart, Ga., were permitted one comfort item to take to the desert. Many chose folding chairs, CD players or propane stoves. Hamre chose his guitar.
“My guitar was actually kind of bigger than what they allowed to carry, but we — the soldiers and I — we sort of snuck it in,” Hamre admitted.
A month after deployment when morale slightly waned, Hamre, of Alpha Company 3-7 Inf. Div, part of Task Force 464, decided to brighten things up and started playing. “The PX wasn’t up, electricity was out, and in the beginning we only received one hot meal a day.” Hamre said the guitar helped pass the time.
Hamre’s music had a tremendous effect on soldiers’ morale. “After three weeks in Baghdad, my XO was urging me to play all the time. It’s kind of ironic that the XO, who was the strongest advocate against the guitar, became the strongest advocate for it,” Hamre said.
“This is probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made,” Hamre said in retrospect of bringing his guitar. “Here we have kids seeing soldiers wounded, a lot of looting, kidnapping, murders and just general chaos. And in the middle of it all, you’ve got this guy playing a guitar.”
When Hamre’s platoon was charged with taking Baghdad, the guitar rode with him and aided to calm much of the tension and unease.
“Everybody was kind of tense. We had sniper attacks. So I just played my guitar, which got everybody kind of relaxed.” It was simply Hamre’s way of telling the soldiers that everybody was going to be all right. Hamre’s guitar not only became symbolic of hope among the soldiers, it also became symbolic of peace within the local community.
When he started playing his guitar, the locals discovered they were not so different from each other. “We were seen as human beings,” Hamre said. The music helped to shed the myth of American soldiers simply being fighting machines.
Hamre quickly gained a following. “There was this 8-year-old kid named Amad. I call him my adopted son,” he said. “Amad would just come by and hang out with me and the crew after school every day. His mom cooked for the soldiers as a sort of ‘thank you’ for watching her child,” Hamre recalled. Hamre didn’t imagine how attached he would become to Amad and his family. “I gave him a picture of my children [daughter Ember and son Dylan] and gave him my address. Hopefully one day, he’ll try to get a hold of me,” Hamre stated. “It was like having another family over there. I miss him now. His whole family cried when we left,” Hamre added.
News of Hamre’s guitar playing reached the ears of several TV stations and newspapers situated in Baghdad. BBC TV ran a two-hour segment on the war in the eyes of a child. Amad became one of the main subjects of the BBC piece, and naturally, Hamre had a chance to be on BBC TV as well.
“I was very proud,” Hamre’s mother, Kelley, said. “I feel it was very humanitarian what he did…because it focused the outlook away from what was really happening. Finding the good, no matter what the situation is,” Kelley concluded.
“That picture is him,” Hamre’s mother said about her son’s picture “That is his demeanor…it brought tears to my eyes,” Kelley added. “The picture captured his soul. You never would have thought he was in the middle of a war.”
Hamre said that bringing his guitar doesn’t make him more special than anyone else. “I consider them all heroes,” Hamre said about his soldiers. “Everybody deserves recognition and respect.”
Hamre is nostalgic at the thought of going back. “They’ve already set up a Burger King and a PX, so I guess we’re staying,” he said hopefully. “I can see myself getting sent back there one more time. The Middle East is going to be one of our regular rotations now.”
Not unlike many in the military, Hamre stated this tour greatly enhanced his outlook in life. “I’ve developed a greater appreciation for the little things: running water, electricity, family, getting up everyday, watching the sunrise,” he mused. “It’s really only the little things that make a big difference,” Hamre added.
“There are a lot of things people there did for us that didn’t make the news. Unfortunately, conflict sells.”
“I tell myself, you’ve been given a second chance. We got a lot of close calls over there.” Hamre said. “I got lucky. A lot of people didn’t make it…I couldn’t ask for anything more than being alive.” Hamre also added that people should never forget what many soldiers did in Iraq. “There were really a lot of selfless acts…and divine intervention. We’re lucky to get out in one piece.”
US Army Sgt Christopher Hamre, of Alpha Company, watches from his Bradley armoured vehicle during a live-fire exercise in the north Kuwaiti desert at the weekend.
Photograph: Reuters
Not shown: Guitar--Weapon of Musical Diversion
Whatever it takes PhilDragoo, whatever it takes. Nice to see some non-doom and gloom stories.
Saving civilization AND telling the story, ping for our awesome troops.
If you want off or on my pro-Coalition/anti-wanker ping list, just ping.
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